From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Kjun Chen Subject: r8169 hard-freezes the system on big network loads Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:08:28 +0200 Message-ID: <201108141308.28140.kjun-chen@sambodha.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: romieu@fr.zoreil.com, nic_swsd@realtek.com To: netdev@vger.kernel.org Return-path: Received: from mail.sambodha.org ([87.118.110.134]:63804 "EHLO mail.sambodha.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753109Ab1HNLZC (ORCPT ); Sun, 14 Aug 2011 07:25:02 -0400 Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: Hi, as I have mentioned to linux-kernel, this is perfectly reproducible: receiving 70 MB/s or more freezes my laptop (Dell Vostro, amd64, 6 GB RAM, 8x Intel Core i7 CPU Q 740 @ 1.73GHz) completely, sometimes within seconds, sometimes only after a minute. Watching the normal console I get loads of r8169 0000:13:00.0: eth0: link up r8169 0000:13:00.0: eth0: link up [...] one message about every 1-2 seconds (sometimes even 2 per second) while network is active on 2.6.37.6. Up to the latest kernel (3.0.1) this freeze happens. However, 2.6.32.28 works with no problems, and it doesn't show those "eth0: link up" messages. I haven't tried kernels between .32 and .37. lspci says: 13:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03) The solution with 2.6.37 and above: use the r8168 module from the realtek website. I have tested it with >30 GB at rates of 112 MB/s and experienced no freezes anymore. If you need any other information or help, please let me know. cheers, Michael -- Sambodha: The Return of True Self-Knowledge